ST. PETE RAIDERS

Bringing Soccer to Pinellas County Families Since 1970

After playing several years at "St Pete Raiders" and a great run in his final season, where both myself and Coach Thacker had the privilege of coaching a great U-18 Club team which featured Emilio, he decided to pack his bags and headed off to Sweden to live his dream of becoming a Professional soccer player.

He has been playing for Brommapojkarna and just won the League in North Allsvenska. The team will now be in the playoffs between the top two teams of North Allsvenska and South Allsvenska.

A must win game vs Malmö at home this Saturday will secure a place in the finals being the following weekend. A win there would lead to a birth in the Nordic Countries Cup which includes the top two teams from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and the top team from Finland and Iceland.

Emilio has secured a starting role against tough local competition in midfield and after playing left back position that endured the first half of the season with the move to midfield he has scored 8 goals (3rd highest in the team) and 3 assists. The expectations with the team are high in the following games as the team has had a fantastic season; most goals (76) and least conceived (22).

The professional team above them is in the 3rd Division and are 1st with four games left and only goal differential between the 2nd place team. Only the 1st team will be promoted up and the 2nd will go to a qualifying round, however, the last match is between the 1st and 2nd. As of now he has not trained with the A team (professional), but has been playing with U21 team constantly. Next Monday they are playing against Malmö as well and with a 3-0 win there would qualify for them for the U21 Finals.

Emilio is hopeful to continue his playing career is Sweden so please keep watching this space for furth updates!

On a final note: It goes to show if you want something that bad you can always find a way to make it happen. We are all extremely proud of our fromer player who has his sights set for the dizzying heights.